[marque08]

Hi peps
So I'm fancying running a couple of autos through my nft. I did do a couple once, but I messed them up for what could be a few reasons.
My question though is seedling related; I'd normally bring on a seedling in just its block for a few weeks under my t5, dipping to water. This results in a fair amount of "air pruning" which is good as it fills up yhe block nicely...but.
Given that most folks who grow in pots don't pot up with autos I'm assuming they are better off being put in the system sooner than later? If so how long can I bring them on for, safely, in my cabinet,before I would risk upsetting them.

Thanks
Marque

[Forest]

just until you see a root poking through then get them on the tray use coco 4inch cube they are much better than rockwool

[marque08]

Cheers forest. Not heard of coco cubes I'll have a look. Although I do quite like rock wool tbf.

[Sprink]

Agree with Forest about rockwool, it's not very good imo. Dirty looking stuff that holds too much water.

Haven't used the coco cubes, but I always thought they'd be a much better bet for NFT.

 

I'd do it when I see a fair few roots coming out, which shouldn't take long at all in a coco block. I think I'd aim to have them on the tray by 2 weeks old, I've done that before without any hint of dwarfism

 

 

 

 

[marque08]

Cheers sprink. Those blocks look interesting. Might give them a go

[Forest]

when i was growing ntf i found the same as sprink says to much water  for my liking with rockwool,  the coco cubes are  great  the plants defo like em better in early stages imo ,  if you put them on with just a root or two or three or ten  (dont worry to much air pruning just leads to more branching of the roots and can be a good thing if done right)   dont turn on the tray for to long at all  just keep em  damp  no more,

you can over water baby plants  and keep you veg nutes simple  just a and b is fine and no organics , you can use root stim while in cubes before tray if you want, but tbo i never saw much diff if any  , i liked to run a ntf tray on the just damp side until the roots hit the res you want to encourage the root to search for goodness they crave 

 

i love ntf such explosive growth  can be seen  im lazy now and run coco in frabic pots for the air pruning effect i do rate air pruning,

 

 

[marque08]

Cheers forest, I've been running nft for a couple of years now, photos, except the once. I'm an ionics chap myself. I'm deffo going tho look at those coco blocks though.
I have just bought some canna a&ab and some coco to give coco a try. I love the nft but it makes it very hard to get at the plants. If I can get close th the same results in coco I might switch over.

[Forest]

ah you know all about ntf then

you dont see the same rate of growth in coco, but it sure is easier  (and no root rot) you can turbo it up a bit in coco by using drippers and feeding little and often  i dont cos it mean having to get rid of waste or recirculating it and i dont have the space now

 

 

[marque08]

Ha. I wouldn't say "know all about" by a long shot , I get by though. It's just doing autos in there as my plants are never less than 5/6 weeks old before they go in normally.

[Sprink]

Fuck yeah for coco. I started in NFT but it was a magnet for root rot, which you just don't get in coco.

Then there's the changing of the res and the filthy spreader mat with fungus gnats on it, don't miss that at all